Scenes that should have been in the show
by Josielynn
Summary: Scenes that were not in the original series but should have been. Some swearing. All characters from the show are fair game. Each chapter will stand alone. Rob Thomas owns them.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This takes place first season while Logan and Veronica are enemies. All the rest of the story is intact. This is just a scene I wished had happened._

Logan is sitting on his surfboard beside his best friend Duncan. They have been surfing for a couple of hours and are pleasantly tired.

It is a beautiful, sunny California day. The waves were extra good today and it was fun to get all the guys together without the distraction of the girls.

All the rest of the guys are on shore packing up to leave. Logan and Duncan came together and are taking a few minutes to rest before they leave.

Duncan almost looked happy at times. He has been such a zombie since Lilly died. Logan feels hope that maybe Duncan will come out of his funk. Logan misses his friend.

He feels alone since Lilly died, Duncan withdrew into himself and Veronica chose the other side. They were his three best friends. Now he feels like they are all gone.

Logan thinks about the Veronica he remembers from before Lilly died. She was so sweet and loving with her long blond hair and her big blue eyes. He remembers watching her and Duncan walking together in the school. They were both so happy and in love. Sure it was a sweet, sickening, puppy type love; but they were happy. He really thought Duncan and Veronica would get married, have two children and live in a big mansion. They would be the perfect couple with the perfect marriage and the perfect life.

Now Veronica is this short haired, boot wearing bitch that will take you down if you cross her. She gives back as good as she gets.

Duncan is drugged up on antidepressants and a shadow of his former self.

Logan thinks about how he has been since Lilly died. He is so full of anger and hate and he just wants to get it all out and be purged. The only time he is able to get some of the hate stuck inside him out is if he spars with Veronica.

Logan is broken from his introspection by a commotion on the beach. He looks up and sees that Dick and Cassidy have wandered up the beach away from their friends. Dick is harassing Veronica who is ignoring him as she watches her dog chase some birds.

As Logan watches Dick grabs Veronica and wrestles her phone from her. He had to manhandle her a bit to get it. Apparently she wasn't keen to give it up. Too bad for her that Dick is a lot bigger and stronger than she is.

Logan watches as Dick throws Veronica's phone into the ocean. Logan smiles at how losing her phone is going to inconvenience Veronica.

The guys on the way to their vehicles in the parking lot look over and see Dick tormenting Veronica. They listen and laugh as Dick and Cassidy jeer at Veronica over her losing her phone. They continue on towards their vehicles talking about how Dick threw Veronica's phone in the ocean.

She is obviously angry. Dick and Cassidy's laughter is wiped away when Veronica whistles and yells, "Back Up protect."

The teens all look up the beach and see that Back Up has heard and is running towards her. They all know that Veronica's father trained Back Up to protect Veronica.

Alarmed Logan jumps off his board and swims towards the beach to help his friends. As he watches he sees Dick and Cassidy realize that Veronica is really going to sic her dog on them. They start to run towards their truck. They can't run fast in the soft sand. Logan sees Back Up chasing hard and closing in fast.

As he swims in he sees Veronica chasing her dog who is chasing Dick and Cassidy.

Back Up hits Dick hard in the back knocking him face down into the sand. Logan winces at how hard Dick hit the ground. Logan can hear the growling and barking from where he is. He sees Dick roll into a protective ball.

Logan swims with his head out of the water so he can see what is happening. He watches as Veronica waves Back Up to catch Cassidy who has continued to run towards the safety of Dick's vehicle.

To Logan's shock Veronica tasers Dick. Logan can hear Dick's scream of pain. It is a long taser and Dick screams throughout. Veronica gives Dick a break and then tasers him again. He is begging Veronica to stop and she finally does.

Back Up has caught up to Cassidy and has knocked him down. Cassidy is lying there with his hands up in protective mode. Back Up when Veronica commands, stands there guarding Cassidy. When Cassidy moves, Back Up growls.

Logan is in shallow enough water to put his feet down. He starts wading as quick as he can to the shore. He watches Veronica reach into a quivering Dick's pocket and take out his phone. She opens the back and pulls out his sim card throwing it into the water. She walks back towards Dick and says, "Thanks for the phone."

She walks over towards Cassidy and demands her voice quiet, "Hand over your phone."

Cassidy looks at her and Veronica says, "I'm not going to tell you again."

Logan hits the shoreline and starts running towards Veronica and the Cassablancas brothers.

Cassidy slowly reaches in and pulls out his phone. He hands it to Veronica. She takes it and walks towards the ocean and throws his phone in.

She starts walking towards her apartment complex when Logan and Luke arrive at the scene.

Veronica turns to face Logan and he is upset to see that she is holding her taser out in readiness. He stops a few feet from her and yells, "What the fuck is the matter with you?"

His tone brings Back Up's attention to him and the massive dog steps between Logan and Veronica and growls menacingly at Logan. Logan looks in surprise at the dog he has known since he was a puppy.

Logan sees that Back Up is still in protective mode. The short hairs are standing up in the back of his neck and he has a steely look in his eyes. Logan quietly says, "Hey boy. It's me."

Veronica points at Logan and says, "Back Up, enemy."

Back Up tenses even more and Logan is deeply shocked. He knows that if he takes a step towards Veronica, Back up will attack him. Logan takes a few steps back to loosen the tension in the dog.

He looks at Veronica and sees the same tenseness and steely look in her eyes. He immediately knows that she sees him as a physical threat. He sees her posture and how she is holding her taser. He can see that she would have no hesitation in tasering him.

"You are a psycho bitch." Logan spits out angrily.

She meets his gaze and her eyes lose their steely look and blaze with hatred for a few seconds before she controls her emotions. Without comment, she turns on her heel and walks off.

Logan watches as her dog stays in position waiting to see if any of the guys are going to choose to follow her. None of them do.

After Veronica is a ways up the beach she whistles and Back Up turns and runs after her.

Logan turns and sees Cassidy and Luke helping a shaky Dick to his feet. Dick is cursing and talking about how he is going to make that slut pay. Logan looks at Dick and sees the two burn marks Veronica left on him. He thinks about how long she tasered him for and how much pain she watched him in. She had almost no expression on her face while Dick yelled in pain.

Logan is stunned at the total hatred in her eyes when she looked at him. The Veronica he knew could not hate. She couldn't even talk badly about someone. This Veronica obviously could hate. He just never thought he would see actual hate in her eyes. He hates her sure; but he is capable of it. She just never was.

He is also struck by the fear he saw in her eyes when she looked at him. She was physically afraid of him. He better than anyone knows that look. He never dreamed that Veronica would have that look when she looked at him. She should know he would never physically hurt her. It flashes across his thoughts that someone must have hurt her for her to be so defensive. He puts that thought to the back of his mind for now.

He watches Back Up walking beside her. He thinks about how she told Back Up he was an enemy. Logan knows that from now on, Back Up will look upon him as a danger to Veronica and protect her against him. The thought that Back Up thinks of him as an enemy also hurts Logan. He loves that dog. He has so many happy memories playing with Back Up as a puppy. For some reason Back Up had taken a real liking to Logan and the feeling had been mutual.

He comes out of his thoughts and sees that Cassidy and Luke have helped Dick to his truck. They tell him they will call him later and they drive off.

Logan walks up the beach to where he left Duncan. He notices that Duncan has gotten his and Logan's surfboards out of the water. He is standing there waiting for him.

Logan can see Duncan saw and heard everything.

Angry Logan says, "She's such a bitch!"

Duncan looks at him a little blankly.

Logan complains, "She told Back Up I was the enemy."

Frowning a little Duncan asks, "Aren't you?"

Logan looks at his friend and says incredulously, "Her father blamed your father for Lilly's murder."

Duncan asks, "Do you want to be responsible for everything your dad does?"

Without waiting for an answer, Duncan picks up his board and says, "Let's go Logan."

He turns and walks towards Logan's truck leaving a profoundly shocked young man standing there.

***

_Next chapter is another scene I wish had happened in the series. _


	2. Scene 2

_A/N: Just another scene I wished had been in the original show. Sometimes it doesn't take a big prank to put someone in his place. This one is just from Logan's point of view. Set in Season One before Logan and Veronica get together._

Logan walks beside Duncan towards the Quad for lunch. As usual Duncan doesn't have much to say. Wondering what he can do to snap his friend out of the total funk he has been in since Lilly died, Logan is also quiet.

Suddenly Duncan's shoulders start to shake and then he starts to laugh.

Logan looks at his friend in surprise and then follows his hand wave to look up the hall. Dick is walking beside Madison ahead of them.

Not understanding what was causing Duncan's amusement Logan frowns at his friend. Duncan chokes out, "Look at Dick's pants."

Logan looks back at Dick and sees he has a brown stain on the back of his tight jeans. The stain is in a very strategic spot and looks suspiciously like he had a bathroom accident.

Dick is waving his left arm as he talks and he has his right arm around Madison. Logan smirks.

He asks, "Do you think we should tell Dick?"

Duncan immediately shakes his head and says, "Let Veronica have her fun."

Stiffening Logan says, "You think Veronica did this?"

Still laughing a little, Duncan reminds his friend. "Remember when Lilly would put those mini chocolate bars in the sun and then cut the top off and put them down on our chairs?"

Logan does remember. The heated bar was small enough that you didn't feel it when you sat down and the melted bar did not soak through the jean material so you were unaware it was there. He smiles a little as he thinks about how hard Lilly laughed at DK when he had the brown stain on his pants. Lilly had insisted that Logan not tell Duncan. It had been Veronica who had gently got her boyfriend to go and change his pants. She had never let DK or him go out in public with the stain. Logan thinks that Lilly would have definitely let them go to school or the mall with the stain on their jeans. She would have taken pictures and laughed and enjoyed every second of their discomfort.

Duncan says, "Everyday in class Dick sits right next to Veronica and harasses her the whole class." He shakes his head and says, "He steals her paper and pencils. He pushes her book off her desk and throws things at her."

He sighs and little and says, "Today she sat there smirking as he plopped into the seat beside her and tried to bother her."

He shakes his head as he finishes the story. "I knew by her smile she had done something but I didn't know what until now."

Logan frowns as he doesn't like that Veronica got Dick back and he definitely doesn't like his best friend's tone of almost admiration.

Duncan looks at Logan and says, "Dick has done a lot worse to her."

"She deserves it though." Logan maintains.

His shoulders slump and Duncan says, "Just leave her be Logan. You aren't proving anything by hurting her."

He fades back into his quiet funk again.

Logan decides not to do anything about Dick's pants. Soon enough someone will tell him and it will be fun to tease him about it for a few weeks.

They walk into the Quad behind Dick and Madison. Logan notices the smirks and laughter when people notice the stain on Dick's pants. Some kids even take pictures on their phone.

Logan walks with Dick and sits down at his usual table. He looks around the Quad noting the 09ers sitting in their regular spots in the middle with the other students filling in around them. It's the proper order of things. The rich with their privileges taking their rightful place and the others who can't compete sit on the sidelines.

Absently he listens to the talk about shopping, new cars, holidays. Talk others in the quad wouldn't understand. It's the talk of the really wealthy. It's not talk of dreams of someday owning or having what you want. It's the talk of people who just buy what they want; only the best of course. It's what they deserve. They deserve it because they were born to it. They don't need a reason. It just is.

John is telling the guys that he had the car to the dealership again and they still can't find the source of the awful smell in his new car. He is truly upset. He loves his new toy and he can't drive it. He tells Casey that it is the fourth time he has had the car in to have it checked. He is asking his father to buy him a new car even though this one is only a month old. Casey dryly says, "Maybe it's you."

The guys all laugh. John is not happy.

Logan listening wonders if Veronica is behind John's troubles. John is the one who has been scratching slut into her car paint every week. She is the only one in the school who would try and get back at one of the 09ers. It has to be her. He wonders what she put in his car that the mechanics can't find.

Beav tells Logan that when he is in computer club, the talk around the school is how much they all admire Veronica. They won't go against the 09ers and talk to her or be friends with her but they all admire how she has gone against the 09ers and how she is holding her own. Logan hears the talk of her being an amateur PI and solving cases for some of the students in the school.

Logan hates that anyone would admire her. There is nothing about her to admire. She is a liar and she turns on her friends. Logan has spent considerable time making sure that Veronica has no support, no friends, nothing in the school. She deserves to be scorned. She deserves to be hated. She deserves to be alone, hated and friendless.

Lately though Veronica has not been alone. Logan looks over and sees Veronica arrive at her table with that black kid she cut down from the pole. The talk around the school is that she got the PCHers to leave him alone. They certainly helped her out when he was knocking the lights out on that piece of junk she drives. His nose still hurts from the punch Weevil gave him. Logan remembers how she told Weevil she didn't want his apology. She had been protecting him. Weevil would have gladly punched him until he apologized. None of his 09er friends would have gone against the PCHers. There were so many of them and only a few 09ers. Logan knows he could have gotten a good beating that day but Veronica had protected him. He had left with his friends. He had not felt good about leaving her there with the biker gang but he didn't know what else to do.

He had looked for her the next day and she looked fine. He didn't want to admit it but he had been worried.

Logan frowns as he thinks about how many flat tires she has repaired and how often she has had her car in for repairs. Word around the school is that Weevil's uncle is doing the repairs for her. The guys have been guessing what she has to do for Weevil and the PCHers to pay for the repairs.

Logan knows Veronica is not sleeping with them but he does wonder how she can afford to fix her car so often. He wonders about her relationship with the gang leader. They seem to get along. Logan has also seen her hanging with that computer nerd with the blue streaks in her hair. Now she has that kid that plays basketball as her friend.

He looks back over and sees him show her a box decorated in school colors. He opens the box and offers her a cookie. Even from across the quad Logan can see they are snicker doodles. He almost smiles as he realizes that Veronica is making spirit boxes for her friend. Logan watches as the guy's face gets blissful as he eats one. He remembers how wonderful her house smelled when she baked them and how he and DK would fight over them when she brought them to school.

As he watches he sees she is smiling at him as he shoves cookie after cookie into his mouth. Logan can see he is finding them delicious.

Veronica has that half smiling, half exasperated look on her face. Logan remembers she had that look a lot when she was around him and Lilly.

He looks over and sees his best friend is watching Veronica has well. He rarely shows any emotion but when he does, it usually has something to do with Veronica Mars. Logan doesn't understand why Duncan would still care about her. She betrayed and hurt his family. She's not worth their thoughts or time. She is a user. She was with them for the money and status. She never cared.

He had tortured her and isolated her but now she has friends at school. She is getting good grades and she is making money as an amateur investigator. Logan ponders what to do about her.


	3. scene 3

_A/N: Season 1. Junior year at Neptune High. Kevin is an entirely made up character who is a senior. I just wish this had happened._

Veronica sits at the pep rally watching the cheerleaders do their routine. Madison is the captain of the cheerleaders. She's dancing and cheering; in the center getting the attention she feels she deserves. Veronica looks over the rest of the cheerleaders and ponders if Lilly were alive would she be captain of the cheerleaders instead of Madison. Veronica looks and sees that most of the cheerleaders are 09ers. She is not surprised. It would be hard to crack the squad when the ones choosing are 09er bitches. Well there is always an exception to every rule. Meg is a cheerleader and she is the sweetest girl in the school. Veronica looks at Meg who is dancing on the end. She looks so beautiful with her large smile on her face as she cheers.

Veronica looks around the crowd and sees most of the guys happily watching the hot girls sing and bounce to the loud music. Looking over towards the PA system Veronica notices that Kevin is running the music for the pep rally.

She remembers helping Kevin when he was accused of cheating in Mr. Wu's class. He would have lost his scholarship to UCLA if she hadn't been able to find out who switched his paper.

Bored and wishing she could be anywhere but in a gym full of students bursting with Neptune school spirit; Veronica looks back at the cheerleaders as they do the last part of their routine. She thinks about how she always felt uncomfortable in pep squad in front of the whole school. She would have been so embarrassed if she messed up the routine or something.

She pauses and her face gets blank for a few seconds; then she smiles. She leans back and watches the final part of the cheerleading routine with a huge smile on her face.

Logan watches the cheerleading routine wishing that he could have gotten out of coming. Unfortunately he promised Madison and a few of the 09er girls he would come and watch them. They have a new routine and they are excited about it.

He has to admit it is not hard to watch hot girls in short skirts dance and tumble to music. He looks around the gym and sees Veronica sitting by herself at the edge of the gym. He notices that no one would even sit near her. He smirks at the idea she is always alone. He can't understand why she doesn't transfer to Pan. He doesn't get why she is so stubborn. No one likes her here.

He thinks about how at lunch Kim was telling everyone that they were doing volleyball in gym class and they had all spiked the ball at Veronica. The girls had giggled about how many times Veronica got hit and how the teacher didn't do anything about it.

He hopes she is bruised and sore.

A particularly loud cheer brings Logan back to the present. He focuses on Veronica again and he sees her face blank out like she always did when she got an idea. Then as he watches she smiles. It's not a sweet or loving or happy smile. It's one of her 'someone is going to pay' smiles.

Logan sees her lean back and watch the rest of the routine. She has that smile on her face.

She's looking at the cheerleaders and watching them closely.

Logan knows that look. It doesn't mean anything good for the 09er she is upset with.

***

A few weeks later Logan is sitting in the stands at the Homecoming Football game. He is sitting beside Caitlin who is wearing the flowers he bought her. He looks around the stadium and sees it is packed with excited students, parents and families. After the game against their Pan High rivals, the students are going to the Homecoming Dance.

Logan pulls out his flask and pours some of the liquor into his cup of soda. He's going to need some help to get through this game. He hates football. He's only there to support his 09er friends and see the cheerleaders do their big cheer at half time. They have been looking forward to this day for weeks. Madison is especially excited as she is the featured cheerleader in the last song they will perform. She has talked incessantly about how her parents paid for new cheerleading outfits and how they are having her performance professionally taped.

Looking around the stands Logan sees Veronica sitting off to the side. He is shocked to see her there. She never comes to football games. Surely no one invited her? He saw her at lunch sitting at her usual loser table by herself. She wasn't wearing flowers. Madison and the other 09er girls had taunted her that no one would ever date her while she was at Neptune High and she should just leave. She had ignored them. Logan had sat back and enjoyed the show. It always made his day for Veronica to be teased.

He looks at her closely and sees she is alone. He wonders why she would come to the game alone.

His attention is taken by Caitlin who is upset that he is ignoring her. He smiles at her and leans down to kiss her.

At half time Logan watches as the Pan High Band performs for the crowd and then the Neptune High Band does their part of the half time show. Finally the cheerleaders perform.

The cheerleaders look good in their new uniforms. They are very sexy with short pleated skirts and tight tops that reveal their flat abdomens.

Logan watches as Madison steps forward to lead the last song. She is standing about five feet in front of the rest of the cheerleaders. The song starts off fine but then Logan notices that Madison is not in time with the rest of the cheerleaders. Inexplicably she seems to be making a lot of mistakes. She doesn't realize she is making them and is acting like she is doing great; smiling at the crowd and confidently dancing and yelling. She is in front of the other cheerleaders and doesn't realize that they are doing a different dance than her.

Logan sees their surprise at what Madison is doing and notes some of them are trying to follow her while others continue to do the routine. They are all looking at each other in confusion and a little horror as they try to make it through the performance.

Finally Madison starts to sing loudly and it is not in time to the music. The other cheerleaders start to sing about two lines after Madison right in sync with the song.

By now Madison realizes that she is off time with her singing and looks back to see what the other cheerleaders are doing. It is obvious that she is very confused. She tries to follow the other cheerleaders and get in time with them but she keeps making mistakes and looks out of place.

The crowd begins to boo and jeer at her and the Pan High crowd is laughing.

Logan is puzzled as he has seen Madison perform this routine at the school pep rallies and now she seems to be confused.

Logan looks around to see the crowd. Many of the students and parents are looking embarrassed for the cheerleaders. Some are trying not to laugh. Some are outright laughing. He looks over and sees Veronica is filming the performance.

He frowns wondering why she would be filming the cheerleaders doing their routine. He knows she doesn't care about the routine so why would she be filming it.

Logan knows this is no coincidence. Somehow Veronica had something to do with it.

He looks back at the cheerleaders and mercifully the song ends. Instead of it being the triumph they envisioned, they are embarrassed and upset in front of almost the entire student body, teachers, parents and of course the players and visitors from Pan High as well.

Madison runs off the field and Logan can see she is crying. The other cheerleaders follow and there is some smattering of applause as most of the crowd is wondering what happened.

Logan looks over and sees Veronica packing up her camera and putting it in her bag. She stands and walks down the stadium stairs towards the exit. She has a small smile on her face.

Caitlin tells Logan that she has to go and comfort Madison. Logan watches as she goes down the stairs. He looks over at Casey who is shaking his head. Casey leans towards Logan and says quietly, "Wow that was brutal."

Logan nods in agreement. Casey adds, "Poor Madison was really confused out there."

John interjects, "It's a shame because there was some big shot cheerleading coach here to see Madison perform."

Casey grimaces and says, "I am thinking she might not get the invite to join the summer squad now."

Logan can only agree. He watches as Veronica steps out of sight. He can't imagine how Veronica could have done this. Madison had the music CD and would not have let Veronica near it. She doesn't even know the cheerleader routines. He can't think of anyway she could be involved but he believes she is.

He has to admit that as payback goes it is a good one. Madison was totally humiliated in front of the largest football crowd of the season after incessantly talking about the routine and bragging about being the captain of the cheerleading squad when she is only a Junior. She lost her chance to be invited to the summer cheerleading camp she wanted to go to.

Tonight she is supposed to be one of the princesses in the Homecoming Court tonight and she will have to face the students after that public meltdown. As a bonus, Logan imagines her performance will be on You Tube and everyone's My Space and Facebook soon. The final piece of the revenge puzzle as far as Logan is concerned is that no one besides him suspects her and he imagines that there will be no evidence linking her to the whole mess. Wow Madison 100, Veronica 1 but Logan has to give the game to Veronica so far.


	4. Scene 4

_A/N: I was wondering what really made Logan change his mind about Veronica in seasons 1. What if there was a catalyst besides his mother's suicide to show him that he cared about Veronica?_

Logan walks confidently across the Quad to sit at his table. He takes comfort in the security of his position in the school and all that it allows him: the freedom to say and act how he wants without repercussion; favors from students wishing to be a part of his crowd; teachers and administrators who put up with his disrespect and poor behavior for the lure of his father's money. He has the life most kids dream about; yet it is his nightmare. He takes the good things when he can; tolerates the awful when he has to. Mostly Logan Echolls just gets through each day; arrogance, money, girls and alcohol are his true friends.

He sits quietly listening to the talk around his table waiting for lunch delivery. He looks over to the middle where Veronica sits and notices her table is empty. Wallace her friend is sitting with his basketball friends; secure from Logan's wrath for being Veronica's friend by his ability to shoot a basketball through a hoop. Really Logan reasons it is no different than the perks Logan accepts as his due. Wallace is admired and loved by the school and by the rules of social command; there is nothing Logan can do about it.

Also safe from Logan's wrath for befriending Veronica is Weevil. He is Logan's enemy but he commands respect of his own as leader of a gang. Very few students at Neptune High get in Weevil's way and Weevil respects Veronica. Logan has seen them together; there is something between them. Dick and the others laugh about Veronica servicing the PCHers but Logan knows it is not physical between them. No, their relationship is something else entirely. They are friends; quietly and unobtrusively they have grown to be friends.

This Mac chick that is seen from time to time with Veronica is also safe from Logan's wrath. She is already socially isolated by her mannerisms and intellect as well as her freakishly superior way with computers. She has never tried to be part of the Kane or Echolls' kingdoms so it is hard to banish her from them. She's not sitting at Veronica's table today; probably down in parts of the school that Logan doesn't frequent doing something Logan doesn't understand or even remotely care about.

No Veronica the little pocket sized pain in the ass PI wantabe is gaining respect in the school. She has her set of social misfit friends and she is actually helping students in the school and they are grateful to her. Even Luke who is part of the 09er group and a pitcher on the baseball team respects her. She faced a violent drug dealer for him and he now won't say or do anything to hurt her.

Logan tried to break her and he had but she is like a Phoenix and grew from the ashes into the Veronica today; the thicker skinned, short skirt wearing, ball busting, don't-mess-with-me bitch who gives back as good as she gets and truly doesn't seem to care what the 09ers say about her.

Logan turns his attention back to the gossip around the 09er tables. The talk of the school is that Polly the Parrot has been kidnapped by Pan High. There was that weird video this morning that turned out to be a ransom demand that Wallace Fennell not play in the basketball game against Pan High tonight or Polly dies. Word is Wallace has decided not to play. Honestly Logan could care less if the mascot was killed; they could just go buy another parrot if they had to. Who would even notice?

Casey sits down at the table and asks everyone if they saw the class standings. Logan frowns but doesn't say anything. He saw them. Veronica has passed Duncan for the number one spot. His feelings about Veronica Mars are more complicated now. He had found the lighter after this mother's jump off the Coronado Bridge and wondered if his mother was alive. He hadn't known where to go and had thought about Veronica and her PI business. Desperate and worried, he had gone to her and she hadn't slammed the door in his face; she had listened. He could tell she was skeptical but she had agreed to look into it. And she had. When he had broken down after finding his sister at the hotel, she had helped him to his room and made sure he was OK. She didn't have to do that. Then when he had shown up drunk to the Total Eclipse of the Heart dance she had helped Duncan look after him; even getting her deputy boyfriend to not arrest him for public drinking.

Sean tells the table they have to do something about her. Dick leans forward and says, "Duncan doesn't have to worry about her anymore."

They all look at Dick in question. Duncan seems to wake up from his stupor to look at Dick in question. Dick enjoying the attentions says, "Didn't you hear? The little bitch is in the hospital. She tried to off herself." The group all looks at him in shock and he continues, "I heard she's going to be institutionalized."

John pipes up, "I heard she's in ICU and probably going to die."

Madison sitting beside Dick smirks and says, "Good riddance to bad rubbish. No one will miss her."

Duncan gets up and rushes out of the Quad. He looks green. The group watches him go and Shelley bitches, "Why would he even care if she dies?"

Logan looks over at Wallace and sees that he is upset and his buddies are trying to comfort him. Tould it be true?

Lunch arrives and Dick pays while Madison passes around the sandwiches he ordered. She places Logan's sandwich in front of him and flirts, "Here you are Logan."

Logan ignores her and mechanically opens his sandwich. He is not sure he can take a bite as the words 'probably going to die' reverberate over and over in his head.

He's not one for self-examination but he did not feel relief when he heard she tried to commit suicide. He felt a sharp pain in his gut.

Part of Logan hears the conversation around him: Veronica got called in to see Vice Principal Clemens yesterday morning and then she left the school;

I heard he expelled her;

it's because Duncan is now dating Meg Manning;

who is going to do the football team now?;

won't miss her junker car;

do you think she used drugs or slashed her wrists?;

I heard she was at Lilly's grave when they finally found her;

no one will go to her funeral.

The other part of Logan is in shock. Why would she try to kill herself now? It's been almost two years since she betrayed Lilly. She's tolerated so much already. Why after all this time would she want to die? What happened? What triggered her now? Was it really because she still loved Duncan? Did seeing Duncan and Meg together send her over the edge?

Logan comes back to the present to a shoulder shove from Dick. He looks up and focuses on him. Dick repeats, "Hey I asked if you wanted to go surfing after school?'

Nodding Logan says, "Sure, sounds good." He looks towards the door of the school and says, "I'm going to go check on DK."

Mechanically he gets up and walks towards the door to the school and enters. He finds Duncan in the bathroom leaning over the sink wiping his mouth. He has obviously thrown up; he's pale and a little sweaty. Logan says, "You OK man?"

Shaking his head his best friend says, "No, I'm not."

He looks up and meets Logan's eyes in the mirror and asks his voice breaking, "What are we going to go?"

Surprised at Duncan's question he answers, "What can we do?"

"I can't lose her," Duncan says finally.

Logan sees that his friend is very serious. He really doesn't know what to say.

Duncan continues, "Maybe we can help her?"

Incredulous at his friend's obvious upset, Logan asks, "Why are you worried now?"

Logan sees his friend's pain. Duncan stands up and says, "We did this to her. We drove her to this."

Taken aback, Logan says, "No she brought this on herself."

Duncan slowly answers, "She followed her father." He says, "I would have done the same."

Logan is really shocked. He says, "She betrayed Lilly.'

Shaking his head Duncan corrects, "Her father said my dad was hiding something. Veronica didn't say or do anything."

Scathingly Logan says, "She never cared about us."

Duncan pauses and looks at his friend and says, "You're wrong. She cared."

Duncan turns back to the sink and gets a paper town and wipes his face again. His voice resigned he asks, "I get why you wouldn't follow your father against us but what if it was your mother? Would you have sided with her?"

The young 09er stares at his best friend feeling like he's been sucker punched. He bends a little like he can't get air.

Duncan throws out the paper towel and then picks up his pack. He sadly walks towards the door and says, "Mr. Mars probably won't let us see her anyways. I'm going to journalism."

Logan stays leaning against the wall of the bathroom after Duncan leaves. So many thoughts are running through his head. The first is disbelief that Veronica would break. She became so strong; she put up with everything the school gave her and carried on. He guesses he never tempered his torment of her. It was almost like she was saying, 'Is that the best you can do?" He never thought she would break. She did love Duncan though and she had been torn apart when he broke it off with her. Maybe seeing him moving on without her and having the school tease her about it had pushed her over the edge. Logan thinks about his own comments to her that Duncan was with Meg now. He doesn't know what to think.

Logan is shocked at Duncan's proclamation that he would had sided with his father and he thought Logan would have sided with his mother. He can see that if the situation were reversed, DK would have sided with his father. Although Logan hates his father he loves his mother and would; no he has done almost anything for her. Logan thinks about what he asked Veronica to do. He asked her to go against her father; of course she wouldn't.

Logan follows his friend's actions and goes over to the sink and washes his face. He leans against the counter and wonders if it was the daily torment that finally got to her. Maybe if he had just given up leading the fight against her, she would have been fine.

Logan has lived with the what ifs after Lilly died. What if Veronica hadn't told Lilly about his kissing Yolanda? What if they were still dating that day? What if she hadn't been alone? What if she hadn't broken up with him?

Now he will have the what if's with Veronica. The bell rings and Logan heads to his locker. He has Journalism and the paper waits for no man…… or woman. Veronica wasn't there yesterday and if the rumors are right she will not be there today.

Sitting in the AV room is Meg Manning and Veronica Mars. They are looking closely at a copy of the video demand that Wallace Fennell not play in the basketball game against Pan High tonight. Both girls are frustrated as their attempts to learn more from the video have been fruitless. Meg is blowing up a section of the floor that has a marking on it.

Veronica thinks about how time is running out for her to find out who has the parrot. Really she understands that Wallace has fed the bird and spent time with it when he was an office aide but it's just a bird. She guesses that Wallace thinks about the bird like she does Back Up. He's not going to play unless she can find that bird. She would really like to help Wallace; he has always been there for her. Plus she really needs that recommendation from Vice Principal Clemmons for her college applications.

She is brought back to the present when Meg questions, "Is that a number?"

Veronica looks closer. She squints at the screen and then observes, "It's a thirteen."

She knows that Ritchie is number thirteen on the Pan High team. She doesn't believe he took the bird. Ritchie believed the story that Wilson stole it. Still she has been fooled by a guy before.

Veronica looks at Meg and says, "Who is number thirteen for Neptune?"

Meg doesn't know but rummages through her bag and produces a basketball team program. Veronica takes it and flips through it.

She sits back and closes the program deep in thought.

Meg asks, "Do you know where Polly is?"

Shaking her head Veronica says, "No but I have an idea where to start looking."

Meg shakes her head as Veronica thanks her for her help and then picks up her messenger bag. She asks Meg if she needs a late slip and pulls one from her bag. Meg obviously puzzled that Veronica has a pile of late slips in her bag says, "No I have a free period now."

Veronica nods and puts the slip back in her bag. Meg asks, "Are you going to journalism?"

Shaking her head Veronica says, "I have to see a guy about a bet." After thanking her for her help, Veronica says goodbye and leaves the room.

Meg sits there and thinks about how awkward it was between them. She knows Veronica is getting teased about Duncan moving on and dating her. She can see Veronica feels uncomfortable around her now. Meg is thrilled that Duncan Kane wants to date her but a little part of her feels like she shouldn't have dated one of her friend's exes.

***

The next day hung over and tired, Logan leans against the locker beside Duncan listening in total disbelief how Veronica had been asked by Vice Principal Clemens to find Polly. She had arrived just before game time with the Pan High goat and Polly. She had not only found both mascots but had pictures of the bird at Jack's house in his bedroom for the coach to see. Jack was the one covering Weevil's bets for the game. He had thrown the game last year and the only way he would be able to throw the game this year was for Wallace not to play because Wallace was the starting guard this year not Jack.

Duncan wasn't sure about where the rumors of Veronica's suicide came about but was obviously relieved it was all just rumors.

Wallace had played and had won the game with a three pointer in the last second of the game. It was the first time Neptune High had beat Pan in the last five years. Wallace was a hero and the school was talking about how Veronica had saved the day. She had stayed and watched Wallace play sitting with his mother and brother in the stands.

Duncan bumps fists with Logan telling him he has to go and see Meg. Logan watches him walk off and wonders at his ability to compartmentalize. He acts as if he wasn't upset yesterday when he heard Veronica had tried to kill herself.

Sighing Logan opens his locker and gets his books out for the morning. Logan looks up the hall and sees Wallace walking beside Veronica. He watches as a lot of kids are congratulating Wallace on his game and sees Veronica's smile as she watches her friend get his due. He sees her gently bump hips with him and he happily puts his arm around her shoulder and squeezes it.

It is apparent that the rumors about her suicide attempt were greatly exaggerated. He wishes he knew that yesterday before he drank a bottle of Jack in the pool house after surfing. He wishes he knew why he even was upset about it; they had not been friends for along time. Still she had helped him try and find his mother. He had gone to her for help and she had helped. He really wouldn't have blamed her if she had refused. He takes one last look at Veronica as she walks down the hall beside Wallace. Today was going to be a long day.


End file.
